Furnace-charging apparatus.



PATENTED NOV. l, 1904.

PORTER FURNAGB GHARGING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 22, 1903.

a SHEETS-SHEET 1.

R0 MODEL.

INVENTOR WITNESSES PATENTED Nov. 1, 1904.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

lNVENTO R gjmei'ori S. PORTER FURNAGB GHARGING APPARATUS APPLICATIONFILED SEPT NO MODEL.

WITNESSES No. 773,634. y PATENTED NOV. l, 1904.

S. PORTER. PURNAGB GHARGINGAPPARATUS.

,APPLICATION FILED SEPT..22, 1903. N0 MODEL. 3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

Ho U* IN E WITNESSESI lNvENToR UNITED STATES Patented November 1, 1904i.

PATENT OEETCE.V

SAMUEL FORTER, OF PITTSBURG,'PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGN OR TO FORTER- MILLERENGINEERING COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

FURNACE-CHARGING APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters `:Patent No. 773,634, datedNovember 1, 1904.

i i Appnctaoniedsepiemberzz,190s. sesamo. 174,212. (remodel.)

To all whom, t may concern:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL FORTER, a citi- Zen of the United States,residing at Pittsburg, in the county of Allegheny and State ofPennsylvania, have invented or discovered new and useful Improvements inFurnace-Charging Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to certain improvements in apparatus forchargingfurnaces, and has for its object to providera simple apparatuswhereby one or more articles, as annealing-pots, may be quicklydeposited in a furnace to be heated and the apparatus withdrawn.

In the accompanying drawings, which form part of the specification,Figure 1 is partly a side view and partly a longitudinal section throughthe center of the furnace, showing the charging apparatus after it hasentered the furnace and the articles to be heated have been deposited onsuitable supports in the furnace. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the chargingapparatus with the top plate omitted. Fig. 3 is an end view lookingtoward-the right on Eig. 1. Fig. 4 is a transverse section of Fig. 1.Fig. 5 is a view in plan and in cross-section of a fragment, showing thesleeve 4 and one of the arms or levers 20 thereon. Fig. 6 is plan andside view of the bearing pieces or journals 21. Fig. 7 is a view similarin character to Fig. 5, showing the sleeve 4 and the arms 9 thereon.

As shown on the drawings, my apparatus consists of a truck formed of twoparallel I- beams 1 1, connected on top bya heavy plate 2 and on thebottom by cross-bars 3. When the I-bearns are in theirlowest position,they rest on sleeves 4, in which are journaled the axles 5 of the wheels6. The wheels 6 run on rails 7, which are laid in the bottom ofthefurnace and extend a sufficient distance outside of the same to allowthe whole charging apparatus to be completely withdrawn from thefurnace. The wheels 6 run, preferably, on friction-rollers 8 in order toreduce the friction and cause the charging apparatus to be moved easily.

Each sleeve 4 has in the middle an arm 9. The arms 9 are all connectedtogether at their 50 upper ends by tie-rods 10, provided withturnbuckles 11. The arm nearest the furnacedoor is also pivotallyconnected to a screw 12.

A nut 13, to which the hand-wheel 14 is keyed, turns on the threaded endof screw 12. The nut 13 is journaled in a cross-head or sleeve 15,having two trunnions 15', to which are pivoted the Lipper ends of thebell-crank levers 16. The angle of the bell-crank levers is connected tothe pivots 18, carried by the brackets 17, which are yfirmly bolted tothe rear end of the truck or charging apparatus. Two links 18 are alsopivotally connected at their lower end to the remaining end of thebell-crank levers-16 and have at their upper 65 ends a pin 19 for theengagement by the hook of a crane-chain 19. The cross-head also servesas an abutment against which the nut works when drawing the screw 12through it.

The sleeves 4 have each two short arms 20, 7o

-cast Von just below the I-beams of the truck,

and are each provided with a pin 20/ at its end. Bearing pieces orjournals 21 are riveted to the Linder side of the beams 1, in which thepins 2O of the arms 2O rest. Each arm 9, 75 with its connected sleeve 4and arm 20, constitutes a bell-crank for lifting the truck-body,

as is clear.

22 represents annealing-boxes supported on their stools 23, as commonlyused in anhealing-furnaces.

24 represents supports in the furnace on which the annealing-boxes restafter they have been deposited in the furnace by my apparatus.

25 is the door-opening, 26 the roof, and 27 the back wall, of thefurnace.

The manner of charging the articles to be heated into the furnace anddrawing them out of the furnace is as follows: Supposing the truck orcharging apparatus to be standing outside the furnace on the rails 7ready to receive the article and the truck-beams 1 to be in their lowestposition, as shown on the drawings, the hand-wheel 14, which is keyed tonut 13, is given a sufiicient number of revolutions to cause the screw12 and with it tierods 10 and long arms 9 to move to the left far enoughto bring the short arms 2O in almost vertical position. The pins in theshort arms resting in the journals 21 on the under side of the I-beams 1will then raise the body of the truck until the top plate 2 is somewhathigher than the top of the supporting-plates 24 in the furnace. Thestools 23, with the boxes 22 thereon, which are wide enough to extendbeyond the sides of the top plate of the truck, are now deposited on thetruck and the apparatus is run into the furnace. When in proper positionin the furnace, the body of the truck is lowered by turning thehand-wheel in the opposite direction, allowing the stools 23 to rest onthe supports 24. The beams 1 are then lowered still farther until theyrest on sleeves 4, in which position a clearance-space is left betweenthe bottom of the stools and the top of the truck-plate 2. The chargingapparatus or truck is now withdrawn from the furnace and the furnaceclosed. When it is desired to take the charge out of the furnace, thetruck is run into the same with the truck-body in its lowest position,as shown on the drawings. The` truck body is then raised as before untilthe stools 28 are lifted from their supports 24 and a clearancespace isleft between the bottom of the stools and the supports. The truck isthen withdrawn from the furnace with the charges resting on it, or theycan be taken off the truck by a crane.

The bell-cranks 16 are provided with the links 18 in order that theraising of the truckbody can also be done by a crane instead of by thehand-wheel 14. By simply hooking the crane-chain onto the pin 19 of thelinks 18 and raising the chain the nut 13, which is in engagement withthe cross-head 15, will move to the left, taking the screw 12 andtie-rods 10 with it, and thus raising the truck-body. The bell-crankswill be turned until the hole 28 in the bell-cranks and the hole 29 inthe brackets register, when a pin 30 is inserted through the holes,which will prevent the bell-crank from moving back when the chain istaken olf. If it is desired to lower the truck, the chain is againhooked to the pin 19, the

pin 30 removed, and the chain lowered until the truck-beams 1 rest againon the sleeves 4. I have not shown any special way of moving the car inand out of the furnace, as this can be done by hand or any suitablepower mechanism.

Having described my invention, I claim# 1. In a furnace-chargingapparatus,a truck, arms carried by the same, other arms operated by thesaid arms to raise the truck-body, links connecting the said first-namedarms, and threaded means for operating the links. 2. In afurnace-charging apparatus, a truck, having a body capable of elevation,a means in engagement with the truck-body for elevating said body, meansfor operating said truck-body-engaging means, a lever to actuate saidoperating means, and means whereby the lever may be connected to ahoisting device. 3. In a furnace-charging apparatus, a truck having amovable body, a reciprocating rod to move said body, a sleeve on therod, a nut on said rod capable of working against said sleeve so as tomove the rod in the sleeve, a bell-crank lever having one arm connectedto the sleeve and the other arm provided with means for attachment to ahoisting device.

4. In a furnace-charging apparatus, a truck having a movable body,sleeves rotatable on the axles thereof, means carried by said sleevesfor raising the said body, and means for rotating the sleeves.

5. In a furnace-charging apparatus,a truck, sleeves on the axlesthereof, beams resting thereon, arms on said sleeve arranged to liftsaid beams, other arms on said sleeve, and means for actuating thelatter arms.

6.. In a furnace-charging apparatus, a truck, a reciprocating rodconnected thereto, a lever arranged to actuate said rod, means formoving the lever, and a pin to pass through holes in said lever andtruck to maintain the rod in the position to which it has been moved.

Signed at Pittsburg this 21st day of September, 1903.

SAMUEL FORTER.

Witnesses:

F. N. BARBER, A. M. STEEN.

